You can usually spot them right away — the specialized license plates, large round eyes just below a sweaty forehead, the two-fisted grip atop the steering wheel.
Such scenes can only mean one thing — driver’s education courses for young high school kids.
Really, the visions above are mostly stereotypes, said R-9 Driver’s Educational Instructor Chris Lowe.
Lowe, who has done this for the last four years, has seen it all. He’s seen the good drivers and the really, really bad ones. He’s seen some kids who love to gun it, and others who apply more pressure on the brake then the accelerator. One poor guy nearly hyperventilated when he eased out into traffic for the first time. Others tend to steer fade right when a car passes them on the left.
Nearly all of the drivers absolutely detest passing oncoming 18-wheelers. Some of the kids stay mum as they drive, staring hawk-eyed front and center. Other kids can hardly speak English.
For Lowe, it’s all in a day’s work.
“I enjoy it — I really do,” he said, who among his duties teaches wrestling for the R-9 School District. “It’s nice to get out of the classroom and get in a place where the kids are a bit more relaxed; a place where they can talk and be more themselves.”
For years, Carthage was like many other school districts that didn’t offer driver’s education. But that changed four years ago. Now the R-9 School District is one of the few in the area that still offers it each summer.
Lowe said some of the kids in his class aren’t even Carthage R-9 students. Kids from Joplin, McAuley and Thomas Jefferson schools are taking part in the program. The credit they earn will then be forwarded to their own school transcripts.
While Lowe’s “classroom on wheels” isn’t your typical educational environment, it certainly doesn’t mean teaching is forgotten. Far from it, in fact — there’s a lot of responsibility riding on Lowe’s rather broad shoulders.
“I look at it more like getting the kids to understand that the driver has the most responsibility for their acts,” he said of his duties.
“They like to speed or their big thing is turning too fast, they don’t realize they have to slow down to turn or to turn back. They get nervous, and usually where their foot’s at is the pedal they push down on.”
Lowe sees a few natural-born drivers, and he sees the farm kids who grew up behind the wheel of a tractor of beat-up truck. On the other hand, there’s the kids whose only experience at driving is at the arcade.
“Sure, (many) of the kids get better — each time they drive get better. You find out with a lot of them it’s just about confidence, really. It’s not that these kids are good or bad drivers, they’re just inexperienced drivers.”
Each participating kids in the summer school program receives roughly six hours of driving, most of it conducted on the Square or on two-lane roads, where they learn how to pass cars without flinching. And Lowe is pretty easy with them, allowing them to drive to their neighborhood and show him where they live.
Potential drivers must be 15-years-old or older to participate. This year’s class has about 70 kids, though in year’s past there have been more than 100.
The red Ford Taurus they drive has more than 150,000 miles on it, but it’s a trooper, and Lowe praised the folks down at the R-9 Bus Barn who keep the car in perfect running order.
“Those guys are great — if something’s wrong with the car, it’ll be ready to go the next morning.
“All in all,” McDonald said, “I’d say the kids have done a great job.”
